Pope's US-Cuba visit includes meetings with homeless, prisoners and Congress

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Pope Francis will have a nice place to sit when he meets with Philadelphia prisoners after inmates built a stately chair hand-carved from walnut.

The chair was made and refinished at the Philadelphia Industrial Correctional Center, one of six jails in the municipal system. Next it will be upholstered at Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility, where Francis plans to meet on 27 September with about 100 prisoners and their relatives during a two-day trip to the city.

Rameen Perrin, who said he had spent 13 months behind bars on drug charges, said it meant a lot to be chosen for the papal project. Prisoners were picked based on work ethic, skill and reliability. “It made me honoured because I’m one of the ones that work hard, and they noticed,” said Perrin, 21.

Francis has made prison ministry a focus of his pontificate. He meets frequently with inmates and has washed prisoners’ feet during pre-Easter rituals. In July he visited a notorious Bolivian prison where he urged inmates to help one another and exhorted staff to rehabilitate prisoners, not humiliate them.

Rameen Perrin and Evan Davis carry the chair they hope the pope will use when he visits. Photograph: Michael Perez/AP

Anthony Newman, assistant director of a vocational program in the Philadelphia prisons, designed the gift for Francis and has been overseeing its construction. He hopes to see the pontiff enjoy the finished product but is not sure how the chair will be presented to him.

“The fact that I got the privilege to do the chair is good enough if I never see him sit in the chair,” Newman said. “So I’m happy.”

The prisoners meeting the pope would include some who made the chair, officials said.

Prisons commissioner Louis Giorla said previously that good behaviour would be one factor in the selection process. Many faiths will be represented, officials said.

Francis is scheduled to visit Philadelphia on 26-27 September for the World Meeting of Families, a triennial Catholic conference focused on strengthening family bonds.

In addition to the prison visit he plans to give a speech at Independence Hall, attend an outdoor family festival and lead a public mass for more than a million pilgrims.